Simon Don Mode of Existence of Technical Objects in Progress

8/13/2019 Simon Don Mode of Existence of Technical Objects in Progress

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provide no clear boundary with regard to the false renewal that commerce requires sothat it can present a recent object as superior to earlier ones. Minor improvements canbe so non-essential as to be concealed by the cyclic rhythm of forms that fashionsuperimposes on the essential lines of utilitarian objects.

It is not enough to say then that the technical object is one that has a specific

genesis proceeding from the abstract to the concrete; once again, it must be stated thatthis genesis is achieved by essential and discontinuous improvements that bring aboutmodifications in the internal scheme of the technical object, and do so in leaps and notalong a continuous line. This does not mean that the development of the technical objectis brought about by chance and that it is independent of any assignable meaning; on thecontrary, it is minor improvements that to some extent happen by chance, obscuring bytheir non-coordinated proliferation the pure lines of the essential technical object. Thereal improvement stages in the technical object are achieved by mutations, but bydirected mutations: the Crookes tube contains in potential the Coolidge tube, because theintention which is organized and stabilized and purified in the Coolidge tube pre-existedin the Crookes tube, in a confused but real state. Many abandoned technical objects are

incomplete inventions that remain as an open potentiality and could be taken up oncemore, extended in another field, in accordance with their underlying intent, their technicalessence.

IV. THE ABSOLUTE ORIGINS OF A TECHNICAL LINEAGE

Like every evolution, the evolution of technical objects raises the problem ofabsolute origins: to what first term can we trace the birth of a specific technical reality?Before the pentode and the tetrode there had been the Lee de Forest triode; before theLee de Forest triode, there had been the diode. But what had there been before thediode? Is the diode an absolute origin? Not completely; without doubt, thermoelectricemission was then unknown but phenomena of the charge transport in space by anelectric field had long been known: electrolysis had been known for a century, and thegas ionization for many decades; thermionic emission is necessary for the diode as atechnical scheme, because the diode would not be a diode if the transport of electriccharges were reversible; in normal conditions there is no such reversibility, because oneof the electrodes is hot and consequently emissive, and the other cold and consequentlynon-emissive; what makes the diode essentially a diode, a two-way valve, is that the hotelectrode can be almost equally either cathode or anode, while the cold electrode canonly be an anode, as it cannot emit electrons; it can only attract them, if it is positive, butit cannot emit them, even if it is negative in relation to another electrode. The result ofthis is that if external voltages are applied to the electrodes, a current will pass throughbecause of the thermionic effect if the cathode is negative in relation to the anode,whereas no current will pass through if the hot electrode is positive in relation to the coldelectrode. This discovery of a condition of functional dissymmetry between electrodes iswhat constitutes the diode and not, strictly speaking, the transport of electric chargesacross a vacuum by means of an electric field; experiments with the ionization ofmonatomic gases had earlier shown that free electrons can move about in an electricfield; but this phenomenon is reversible and not polarized; if the rarified gas tube is turned

Simondon Translation (in progress) Mellamphy, Mellamphy & Mellamphy 2010

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arethe system of the actual. Invention is a taking charge of the system of actuality by thesystem of potentialities, the creation of a single system from those two systems. Formsare passive insofar as they represent actuality; they become active when they areorganized in relation to their ground, thus introducing earlier potentialities to actuality.Undoubtedly it is very difficult to clarify those modalities by which a system of forms can

relate to a ground of potentialities. We can only say that it happens according to thesame mode of causality and conditioning as that by which each of the structures of aconstituted technical object relates to the dynamisms of the associated milieu; thesestructures are in the associated milieu, are conditioned by it, and through it by the otherstructures of the technical object; in turn, they condition it, partially, but each for its ownsake, whereas the technical milieu, which is conditioned by each structure separately,conditions them all together by supplying them with energetic, thermal, chemicalconditions of functioning. There is a recurrence of causality between the associatedmilieu and the structures, but this recurrence is not symmetrical. The milieu plays aninformational role; it is the seat of self-regulation, the vehicle for information or forinformation-controlled energy (for example, water animated at fairly rapid speed fairly

quickly cools a crankcase); while the associated milieu is homeostatic, the structures areanimated by a non-recurrent causality; each goes in its own direction. Freud analyzed theinfluence of ground on forms in psychic life by interpreting it in terms of the influence ofother hidden forms on explicit forms; hence the notion of repression. Indeed, experimentshave shown that symbolization exists (experiments on a hypnotized subject who hears aviolently emotional scene recounted and who, on waking up, uses a symbolictransposition in retelling the scene), but not that the unconscious is populated by formscomparable to explicit forms. The dynamic of tendencies is sufficient to explainsymbolization if we accept as meaningful the existence of a psychic ground on which aredeployed, and in which participate, explicit forms that the conscious state and the wakingstate show forth. The milieu associated with the systematic of forms institutes recurrentcausal relations between these forms and causes reorganizations of the system of formscollectively. Alienation is a rupture between ground and forms in psychic life: theassociated milieu no longer effectively regulates the dynamism of forms. The reason whythe imagination has been badly analyzed up to the present day is that forms have beenaccorded the privilege of activity and have been thought to have the initiative in psychiclife and in physical life. In reality, there is a strong kinship between life and thought: in theliving organism all living matter cooperates with life; the most obvious and clearly definedstructures in the body are not the only ones that have life initiative: blood, lymph, andconjunctive tissues play their role in life; an individual is not only made of a collection oforgans linked together in systems; he is also made of something that is neither an organnor a structure of living matter in the sense of its constituting an associated milieu for theorgans; living matter is the ground of the organs; it is what connects them to each otherand makes them an organism; it is what maintains the fundamental equilibriums, boththermal and chemical, on which organs exert sudden, though limited, variations; theorgans participate in the body. The living matter in question is far from being pureindeterminacy and pure passivity; neither is it blind aspiration: it is a vehicle of informedenergy. Likewise, thought comprises precise and separate structures such asrepresentations, images, and some memories and perceptions. But all these elementsparticipate in a ground that gives them a direction, a homeostatic unity, and that conveys


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of the technical roles, that of the individual, was taken by men; now that he is no longer atechnical being, man must learn a new function, and must find a position in the technicalensemble that is not the position of the technical individual; the first thing he must do is totake on two non-individual functions, the function of the elements and the function of thedirector of the ensemble; but in both of these functions man is in conflict with his memory

of himself: man has played the role of technical individual to such an extent that themachine which has become a technical individual still seems to be a man and seems tohave taken mans place, whereas in actual fact man had provisionally taken the place ofthe machine before real technical individuals could be made. In all judgments madeabout the machine, there is an implicit humanizing of the machine, which has this role-change as its ultimate source; man had so well learned to be a technical being that hegoes to the extent of believing that once the technical being has become concrete itwrongly begins to play mans role. Ideas about slavery and freedom are much too closelylinked with the old status of man as technical object to be able to deal with the realproblem of the relation between man and machine. The technical object must be knownin itself if the relation between man and machine is to be stable and valid: hence the need

for a technical culture.


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Gilbert Simondon. Onthe Mode of Existence of Technical Objects

SECOND PART

Man and the Technical Object

Chapter I

The Two Basic Modes of the Human RelationshiptoTechnical Data

1: THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF TECHNICS--MAJOR AND MINOR

We would like to show that the technical object can be linked with man in

two opposite ways: in accordance with a majority status or in accordance with aminority status. The minority status is that according to which the technical objectis primarily a common object, necessary for daily life, and part of the circle withinwhich the individual grows and develops. In this case, the encounter between thetechnical object and the human takes place principally during childhood.Technical learning is implicit, not thought out, customary. The majority status, onthe other hand, corresponds to the awareness and the reflective transaction ofthe free adult, who has at his disposal the means of rational knowledgedeveloped by the sciences: in this way the knowledge of the apprentice differsfrom that of the engineer. Once the apprentice becomes an adult craftsman andonce the engineer is thrust into the network of human relations, the person

retains and radiates about him a vision of the technical object that corresponds,in the case of the former, to the minority status of the object and, in the case ofthe latter, to its majority status; these two are very different sources ofrepresentations and judgements relating to the technical object. Now, thecraftsman and the engineer do not live for themselves alone; witnesses andagents of the relationship between human society as a whole and the world oftechnical objects as a whole, they have exemplary value: through them thetechnical object is incorporated into culture. Until the present day, these twomodes of incorporation have not been able to produce consistent results, so thatthere are, as it were, two languages and two kinds of thought emerging from thetechnical, and there is no coherence between one and the other. This lack of

coherence is partly responsible for contradictions that modern culture retainstoday when it judges and imagines the technical object in relation to man.

This conflict between the majority aspect [of the technical object] and itsminority aspect is, moreover, just a particular instance of the perennialinadequacy that has existed between man, individual or social, and technicalreality. In antiquity, the majority of technical operations were cast out of thedomain of thought: these were operations relating to servile occupations. Just asthe slave was rejected from the city, so were servile occupations and the


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theimplicit, instinctive, and magical nature of technical education as it applies tothe child with the opposite nature of these as we find them in the Encyclopdie;but such a contrast could obscure a profound analogy between the dynamisms inthese structurings of technical knowledge; encyclopaedism demonstrates andpromotes a sort of reversal of basic technical dynamics; however, this reversal is

possible only because some operations are not so much destroyed as displacedand overturned in some way. The Encyclopdiealso manipulates and transfersforces and powers; it casts an enchantment too and traces a circle resemblingthe magic circle; except that it does not cast an enchantment by the same meansthe ordeal uses in instinctive knowledge, and the reality it places within its circleof learning is not the same reality. Human society with its obscure forces andpowers is what is placed within its circle, which has become immense andcapable of encompassing everything. The objective reality of the book representsand constitutes the circle. Everything included in the encyclopaedic book is in thepower of the individual who possesses this book, this symbol that includes allhuman activities in their most secret details. The Encyclopdie provides a

universality of initiation, and by doing so produces a kind of explosion in thesame sense as initiation does; the secret of the objectified universal retains thepositive sense of the notion of the secret (fullness of knowledge and familiaritywith the sacred), but reduces to nothing its negative character (obscurity, the useof mystery as a means of exclusion, the confining of knowledge to a small

number of men). The technical becomes an exoteric mystery.1The Encyclopdieis an image (un voult) that is all the more effective for being made with a moreprecise and exact and objective representation of its model; all the activeingenuity, all the vital forces of human activities are brought together in thisobject-symbol. Every individual who can read and understand possesses theimage of the world and of society. Magically, everyone is master of everything,because he possesses the image of everything. The cosmos, that in the pastencircled the individual and was superior to him, and the constraining socialcircle which had always been so binding and eccentric to individual power, arenow in the hands of the individual, like the globe representing the world thatemperors carry as a sign of sovereignty. The power, the security, of the reader ofthe Encyclopdie is like that of the man who first attacked the effigy of an animalbefore accosting the animal in nature, and it is also like that of the primitivefarmer who performed propitious rites before putting seed in the soil, or like thatof the traveller who would not explore a new land until he had made it hospitablein some way by an act establishing a communion and a pre-possession, an act

such as we remember from The Odyssey2. The rite of initiation is a union withreality, reality that remains hostile until it has been tamed and possessed. That iswhy every initiation makes the initiate manly and adult.

1Some of the feeling about the efficacy of primitive magic has developed into an unquestioning belief in

progress. The modern or seemingly modern object has become clothed in an almost supernatural capacity

for efficacy. The modern mans feeling retains some belief in the boundless and polyvalent power of asacred object.2The possession-of-the-earth rite Ulysses performs as he reaches the island of the Phaeacians.


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thisasymmetric development should not make us forget one of the mostimportant components of the encyclopaedic technical mind: namely, the directconnection of the individual with the vegetable and animal world, with biologicalnature; instead of being left to the descendents of the serfs of long ago, thistechnique of the ploughmans art [


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Theelectric current as a vehicle of information has no equal except for radiowaves or a beam of light, which also is made of electromagnetic waves such asradio waves: what the electric current and the electromagnetic wave have incommon is an extreme speed of transmission and the capacity to be modulatedwith great precision, without appreciable inertia, in frequency and amplitude. Their

capacity to be modulated makes them accurate carriers of information and theirspeed of transmission makes them rapid carriers. What becomes important then isno longer the power conveyed, but the precision and accuracy of the modulationtransmitted by the information channel. Beyond the dimension defined bythermodynamics a new category of magnitude emerges that makes it possible toclassify information channels and to compare them. This development of newconcepts has meaning for philosophical thought by providing the example of newvalues which until our day had no meaning in technics, though they had meaningin human thought and behavior. In this way, thermodynamics had defined thenotion of efficiency for a conversion system such as an engine: the efficiency is therelation between the amount of energy at the inlet of the engine and the that

collected at the outlet; between the inlet and the outlet there is a change in energyform; for example, in the case of the heat engine, thermal energy becomesmechanical energy; since we know the mechanical equivalent of a calorie, we candefine the efficiency of an engine as a transformer of thermal energy intomechanical energy. More generally, in every device that performs a conversion,we can define an efficiency that is the relationship between two energies; in thisway there is a performance home, the relationship between the chemical energyrepresented by the ratio between the amount of chemical energy contained in thefuel system and the amount of heat actually released; an efficiency of the home-boiler system, defined by the relationship between the caloric energy produced bythe furnace and the thermal energy actually transmitted to the water in the boiler;there is an engine efficiency which is the relationship between the energycontained in the system composed of the hot steam sent to the inlet and the coldsource in the tailpipe, and the mechanical energy actually produced by itsreduction in pressure in the cylinder (a theoretical efficiency governed by theCarnot principle). In a series of energy-transformations, the efficiency calculatedbetween the initial inlet and the final outlet is the product of all the partialefficiencies. This principle is even applicable in the case where the energyrecorded at the outlet is of the same nature as that at the inlet; when a storagebattery is charged, there is an initial partial efficiency which is the conversion ofelectrical energy into chemical energy; when it is discharged, there is a secondpartial efficiency, which is that of the conversion of chemical energy into electricalenergy: the efficiency of the battery is the product of these two efficiencies.However, when an information channel is used to transmit information, or wheninformation is recorded on a support for retention purposes, or again when there isa transfer from one information-carrier to another support (for example frommechanical vibrations to an alternating current in which the frequencies andamplitudes follow the vibrations), a loss of information occurs: what is collected atthe outlet is not identical to what was at the inlet.


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thoseobjects [should also be known] as one mode of mans relationship to theworld. Taken on its own, technicity tends to become dominant and to provide ananswer to every problem, as it does today with the cybernetics system. In fact, tobe properly known according to its essence, and to be rightly integrated intoculture, technicity should be known in relation to other modes of being in the world

of man. No inductive study, starting from the plurality of technical objects, candiscover the essence of technicity: therefore an attempt should be made to use aphilosophic method and make a direct examination of technicity as a geneticmethod.


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OntheModeofExistenceofTechnicalofTechnicalObjects

by

GilbertSimondonTHIRD

PART

THEESSENCEOFTECHNICITY

ChapterI

THEGENESISOFTECHNICITY

ITHENOTIONOFPHASEAPPLIEDTOBECOMING:TECHNICITYASPHASE

Thisstudypostulatesthattechnicityisoneofthetwofundamentalphasesofthe

modeofexistenceoftheensembleconstitutedbymanandtheworld. Byphase,wedonot

meanonetemporalmomentreplacedbyanother,butanaspectthatresultsfromadivision

ofbeingandthatisopposedtoanotheraspect. Thissenseofthewordphaseisinspiredby

thenotionofphaserelationinphysics;onecannotconceiveofaphaseexceptinrelationto

anotherortoseveralotherphases;inasystemofphasesthereisarelationofequilibrium

andofreciprocaltensions;thepresentsystemofallthephasestakentogetheristhe

completereality,noteachphaseitselfsinceaphaseisaphaseonlyinrelationtoothers,and

itisdistinguishedfromtheminamannerthatistotallyindependentofnotionsofgenusand

species. Finally,theexistenceofapluralityofphasesdefinestherealityofaneutralcentre

ofequilibriuminrelationtowhichthephaseshiftexists. Thisschemaisverydifferentfrom

thedialecticalschema,becauseitimpliesneithernecessarysuccessionnortheintervention


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ofnegativityasengineofprogress;moreover,intheschemaofphases,theoppositionexists

onlyintheparticularcaseofabiphasestructure.

Theadoption

of

such

aschema

founded

on

the

notion

of

phase

is

destined

to

put

in

playaprincipleaccordingtowhichthetemporaldevelopmentofalivingrealityproceedsby

divisionfromaninitialactivecentreandthenbyregroupingaftertheadvanceofeach

separaterealityresultingfromthedivision.Eachseparaterealityisasymboloftheother,just

asonephaseisasymboloftheotherorofothers;nophase,asphase,isinequilibriumin

relationtoitself,nordoesithavecompletetruthorreality:everyphaseispartial,abstract,

andunbalanced;onlythesystemofphasesisinequilibriumatitsneutralpoint;itstruthand

itsrealityarethisneutralpoint,theprocessionandconversioninrelationtothisneutral

point.

Wesupposethattechnicityresultsfromaphaseshiftofacentral,original,and

uniquemode

of

being

in

the

world,

the

magical

mode;

the

phase

that

balances

technicity

is

thereligiousmodeofbeing.Aestheticthinkingemergesattheneutralpointbetween

technicsandreligion,atthemomentofthedivisionofprimitivemagicalunity:thisisnota

phasebut,rather,apermanentreminderoftheruptureoftheunityofthemagicalmodeof

beingandasearchforafutureunity.

Eachphaseinturndividesintoatheoreticalmodeandapracticalmode;thereisthus

apracticalmodeoftechnicsandapracticalmodeofreligion,aswellasatheoreticalmodeof

technicsandatheoreticalmodeofreligion.


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Justasthedistancebetweentechnicsandreligiongeneratesaestheticthinking,so

thedistancebetweenthetwotheoreticalmodes(thetechnicalandthereligious)generates

scientificknowledgeasmediationbetweentechnicsandreligion.Thedistancebetweenthe

practicaltechnicalmodeandthepracticalreligiousmodegeneratesethicalthinking.

Aestheticthinkingisthereforeamediationbetweentechnicsandreligion,thatismore

primitivethanscienceandethics,forthebirthofscienceandethicsrequiresapriordivision

withintechnicsandreligionbetweenthetheoreticalmodeandthepracticalmode. Fromthis

resultsthefactthataestheticthinkingistrulysituatedattheneutralpoint,extendingthe

existenceofmagic,whereasscienceontheonehandandethicsontheotherareinconflict

inrelationtotheneutralpoint,sincethereisthesamedistancebetweenthemasthereis

betweenthetheoreticalmodeandthepracticalmodeintechnicsandinreligion.Ifscience

andethicscouldhaveconvergedandunited,theywouldhavecoincidedintheneutralaxisof

thisgeneticsystem,therebyprovidingasecondanalogueofmagicalunity,overandabove

theincomplete

aesthetic

thinking

that

is

its

first

analogue,

incomplete

because

it

allows

the

phaseshiftbetweentechnicsandreligiontosubsist. Thissecondanaloguewouldbe

complete;itwouldreplaceatoncemagicandaesthetics;butperhapsitisonlyasimple

tendencyplayinganormativerole,sincenothingprovesthatthedistancebetweenthe

theoreticalmodeandthepracticalmodecanbecompletelybridged.

Inordertoindicatethetruenatureoftechnicalobjects,itisthereforenecessaryto

resorttoastudyoftheentiregenesisoftherelationsbetweenmanandtheworld;the

technicityofobjectswouldthenseemtobeoneofthetwophasesoftherelationofmanto

theworldengenderedbythedivisionofprimitivemagicalunity.Shouldtechnicitythenbe


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consideredasasimplemomentinagenesis?Yes,inacertainsense:thereiscertainly

somethingtransitoryintechnicity,whichitselfbecomesdividedintotheoryandpracticeand

participatesinthesubsequentgenesisoftheoreticalthinkingandofpracticalthinking.But,in

anothersense,thereissomethingdefinitiveintheoppositionoftechnicitytoreligiosity,

becausemansprimitivewayofbeingintheworld(magic)canbethoughttoprovide

inexhaustiblyanindefinitenumberofsuccessivecontributionsthatcanbedividedintoa

technicalphaseandareligiousphase; inthismanner,althougheffectivelythereis

successioningenesis,thesuccessivestagesofthedifferentgenesesaresimultaneouswithin

culture,andtherearerelationsandinteractionsnotonlybetweensimultaneousphasesbut

alsobetweensuccessivestages;hence,technicscanencounternotonlyreligionand

aestheticthinkingbutalsoscienceandethics.Now,ifoneadoptsthegeneticpostulate,one

noticesthatascienceoranethicscanneverencounterareligionoratechnicsonatruly

commonground,sincethemodesofthinkingthataredifferentindegree(forexamplea

scienceand

atechnique)

and

that

exist

at

the

same

time

do

not

constitute

asingle

genetic

lineage,donotissuefromthesamesurgeoftheprimitivemagicaluniverse.Trueand

balancedrelationsonlyexistbetweenphasesofthesamelevel(forexampleatechnical

ensembleandareligion)orbetweensuccessivedegreesofgenesisthatarepartofthesame

lineage(forexamplebetweenthestageoftechnicsandofreligionsintheseventeenth

century

and

the

contemporary

stage

of

science

and

of

ethics).

True

relations

exist

only

in

a

geneticensemblebalancedaroundaneutralpoint,envisagedinitstotality.

Thisispreciselythegoaltobereached:reflexivethinkinghasamissiontoredressand

refinethesuccessivewavesofgenesisbywhichtheprimitiveunityoftherelationofmanto


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theworldbecomesdividedandcomestosustainscienceandethicsthroughtechnicsand

religion,betweenwhichaestheticthinkingdevelops. Inthesesuccessivedivisions,primitive

unitywouldbelostifscienceandethicswerenotabletocometogetherattheendofthe

genesis;philosophicalthinkingisinsertedbetweentheoreticalthinkingandpractical

thinking,intheextensionofaestheticthinkingandoftheoriginalmagicalunity.

Now,tomakepossibletheunityofscientificknowledgeandofethicsinphilosophical

thinking,thesourcesofscienceandofethicshavetobeofthesamedegree,

contemporaneousonewiththeother,andmusthavearrivedatthesamepointofgenetic

development.Thegenesisoftechnicsandofreligionconditionsthatofscienceandof

ethics.Philosophyisitsowncondition,forassoonasreflexivethinkingbegins,ithasthe

powertoperfectwhicheverofthegenesesthathasnotbeenentirelyachieved,bybecoming

awareofthesenseofthegeneticprocessitself.So,tobeabletoposethephilosophical

problemoftherelationsbetweenknowledgeandethicsinaprofoundmanner,itwouldbe

necessaryfirstofalltocompletethegenesisoftechnicsandthegenesisofreligiousthinking,

orattheveryleast(forthistaskwouldbeinfinite)toknowtherealmeaningofthesetwo

geneses.

II.THEPHASESHIFTOFPRIMITIVEMAGICALUNITY

Inordertounderstandthetruerelationoftechnicstootherfunctionsofhuman

thinking, onemuststartwiththeprimitivemagicalunityoftherelationsofmanandworld;

throughthisexaminationitispossibletounderstandwhyphilosophicalthinkingshould


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completetheintegrationoftechnicalrealityintoculture,whichisonlypossiblebyfreeing

thesenseofthegenesisoftechnicsbythefoundingofatechnology;so,thedisparity

betweentechnicsandreligionsubsides,harmfulasitistotheintendedreflexivesynthesisof

knowledgeandethics.Philosophymustfoundtechnology,whichistheecumenismof

technics,becauseifethicsandthesciencesaretomeetupinreflection,aunityoftechnics

andaunityofreligiousthinkingneedstoprecedethedivisionofeachoftheseformsof

thinkingintoatheoreticalmodeandapracticalmode.

Thegenesisofaparticularphasecanbedescribedinitself;butitcannotbereally

knowninitssenseand,consequently,understoodinitspostulationofunity,unlessitis

repositionedinthetotalityofitsgenesis,asaphaseinrelationtootherphases.Thisiswhyin

tryingtounderstandtechnicityitisnotenoughtostartwithconstitutedtechnicalobjects;

objectsemergeatacertainmoment,buttechnicityprecedesandsurpassesthem;technical

objectsresultfromanobjectificationoftechnicity;theyareproducedbyit,yettechnicityis

notexhaustedintheseobjectsandisnotentirelycontainedinthem.

Ifweeliminatetheideaofadialecticalrelationbetweensuccessivestagesofthe

relationbetweenmanandtheworld,whatcouldbetheengineofsuccessivedivisionsduring

whichtechnicityemerges? ItispossibletoappealtothetheoryofForms,andtogeneralize

the

relation

that

it

establishes

between

figure

and

ground.

Gestalt

theory

draws

its

basic

principlefromthehylemorphicschemaofancientphilosophy,appliedtomodern

considerationsofphysicalmorphogenesis:thestructuringofasystemwoulddependon

spontaneousmodificationstendingtowardastablestateofequilibrium.Inreality,itseems


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thatadistinctionshouldbemadebetweenastableequilibriumandametastable

equilibrium.Theemergenceofthedistinctionbetweenfigureandgroundresultsfroma

stateoftension,fromtheincompatibilityofthesysteminrelationtoitself,fromwhatone

couldcalltheoversaturationofthesystem.Butthestructuringisnotthediscoveryofthe

lowestlevelofequilibrium:stableequilibrium,inwhichallpotentialwouldbeactualized,

wouldcorrespondtothedeathofanypossibilityoffurthertransformation;so,living

systems,preciselythosethatmanifestthegreatestorganizationalspontaneity,aresystems

ofmetastableequilibrium. Thediscoveryofastructureisatleastaprovisionalresolutionof

incompatibilities,butitisnotthedestructionofpotentials;thesystemcontinuestoliveand

toevolve;itisnotdegradedbytheemergenceofstructure;itremainstenseandcapableof

beingmodified.

Ifoneagreestoacceptthiscorrectiveandtoreplacethenotionofstabilitywiththat

ofmetastability,thenitseemsthattheTheoryofFormsmayaccountforfundamentalstages

intheevolutionoftherelationbetweenmanandtheworld.

Primitivemagicalunityisthevitalrelationallinkbetweenmanandtheworld,defining

auniverseatoncesubjectiveandobjectivepriortoanydistinctionbetweenobjectand

subject,andconsequentlyalsopriortoanyemergenceoftheseparateobject.Theprimitive

mode

of

the

relation

of

man

to

the

world

can

be

thought

of

as

not

only

prior

to

the

objectificationoftheworld,buteventothesegregationofobjectiveunitiesinthefieldthat

willbecometheobjectivefield. Manfindsthatheisboundtoauniversethatisexperienced

asamilieu.Theemergenceoftheobjectcanonlyhappenthroughtheisolationand


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fragmentationofthemediationbetweenmanandtheworld;andaccordingtotheprinciple

proposed,thisobjectificationofamediationmusthaveascorrelative,inrelationtothe

primitiveneutralcentre,thesubjectificationofmediation. Themediationbetweenmanand

theworldbecomesobjectifiedasatechnicalobject,inthesamewayasitissubjectifiedasa

religiousmediator;butthisobjectificationandthissubjectification,contraryand

complementary,areprecededbyaprimarystageoftherelationtotheworld,themagical

stage,inwhichthemediationisstillneithersubjectivenorobjective,neitherfragmentednor

universalized,andisthesimplestandmostfundamentalstructuringofthemilieuofaliving

being:thebirthofanetworkofprivilegedpointsofexchangebetweenthebeingandthe

milieu.

Themagicaluniverseisalreadystructured,butaccordingtoamodethatispriorto

thesegregationofobjectandsubject;thisprimitivemodeofstructuringistheonethat

distinguishesfigurefromgroundbymarkingkeypointsintheuniverse.Iftheuniversewere

deprivedofeverystructure,therelationbetweenthelivingbeinganditsmilieucouldoccur

inacontinuoustimeandacontinuousspace,withoutprivilegedmomentorplace.Infact,

precedingthesegregationofunities,areticulationofspaceandtimeisestablishedthat

highlightsprivilegedplacesandmoments,asifallofman'spowertoactandallthecapacity

oftheworldtoinfluencemanwereconcentratedintheseplacesandinthesemoments.

Theseplacesandthesemomentspossess,concentrate,andexpresstheforcescontainedin

thegroundrealitythatsupportsthem. Thesesitesandthesemomentsarenotseparate

realities;theydrawtheirforcefromthegroundthattheydominate;buttheylocalizeand

focalizetheattitudeofthelivingvisvisitsmilieu.


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Accordingtothisgeneralgenetichypothesis,wesupposethattheprimitivemodeof

existenceofmanintheworldcorrespondstoaprimitiveunion,priortoanydivision,of

subjectivityand

objectivity.

The

primary

structuring,

corresponding

to

the

emergence

of

a

figureandagroundinthismodeofexistence,iswhatgivesbirthtothemagicaluniverse.The

magicaluniverseisstructuredaccordingtothemostprimitiveandmostfecundof

organizations:thatofthereticulationoftheworldintoprivilegedplacesandprivileged

moments.Aprivilegedplace,aplacethathasapower,isonewhichdrawsintoitselfallthe

forceandefficacyofthedomainitdelimits;itsummarizesandcontainstheforceofa

compactmassofreality;itsummarizesandgovernsit,asanhighlandgovernsanddominates

alowland;theelevatedpeakisthelordofthemountain,1justasthemostimpenetrablepart

ofthewoodiswhereallitsrealityresides.Themagicalworldisinthiswaymadeofa

networkofplacesandthingsthathaveapowerandareboundtootherthingsandother

placesthatalsohaveapower.Suchapath,suchanenclosure,suchatemenoscontainsall

theforceoftheland,andisthekeypointoftherealityandofthespontaneityofthings,as

wellasoftheiraccessibility.

Insuchanetworkofkeypoints,ofhighplaces,thereisaprimitiveindistinction

regardinghumanrealityandtherealityoftheobjectiveworld. Thesekeypointsarerealand

objective,

but

in

them

the

human

being

is

immediately

united

with

the

world,

both

to

be

influencedbyitandtoactuponit;theyareplacesofcontactandofmixed,mutualreality,

placesofexchangeandofcommunicationbecausetheyformaknotbetweenbothrealities.

1Notmetaphoricallybutreally:thegeologicalfoldingandtheeruptionthatbuiltthewholemassifareoriented

towardthepeak.Thepromontoryisthefirmestpartofthechainerodedbythesea.


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Yet,magicalthoughtisthefirst,becauseitcorrespondstothesimplest,most

concrete,mostimmense,andmostsupplestructuring:thatofreticulation.Inthetotality

constitutedby

man

and

the

world

there

emerges

as

the

primary

structure

anetwork

of

privilegedsitesthatmakepossibletheinsertionofhumaneffort,andthroughwhich

exchangesbetweenmanandtheworldarecarriedout. Eachsingularsiteconcentrates

withinitselfthecapacitytohavecontroloveraportionoftheworldthatitspecifically

representsandwhoserealityitconveysincommunicationwithman.Thesesingularsites

couldbecalledkeypointscontrollingthemanworldrelationshipinareversibleway,forthe

worldinfluencesmanjustasmaninfluencestheworld. Thesummitsofmountainsorcertain

narrowpassesareinthiswaynaturallymagical,becausetheygovernaregion.Theheartof

theforestandthecentreofaplainarenotjustgeographicalrealitiesmetaphoricallyor

geometricallydesignated:theyarerealitiesthatconcentratenaturalpowersastheyfocalize

humaneffort:theyarefiguralstructuresinrelationtothemassethatsupportsthemand

thatconstitutestheirground.

Ingeneral,welooktosuperstitionwhenwewanttofindanexampleoftheschemas

ofmagicalthinkingintheactualconditionsoflife.Infact,superstitionsarefadedvestigesof

magicalthinkingand,inasearchforitsrealessence,theycanonlybemisleading.Onthe

other

hand,

to

understand

the

meaning

of

magical

thinking,

it

is

advisable

to

resort

to

high,

nobleandsacredformsofthoughtthatrequireaclearandinsightfuleffort.That,for

example,istheaffective,representative,andvoluntarysubstratumthatsupportsanascent

oranexploration.Perhapsthedesireforconquestandthesenseofcompetitionunderliethe


(rough draft)


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motivationthatmakesitpossibletomovefromeverydayexistencetoexceptionalacts;

butcertainlywhenthedesireforconquestisinvoked,itisamatterofmakinganindividual

actlegitimateforacommunity.Infact,intheindividualbeingorinthegrouplimitedto

thosewhoperformtheexceptionalact,thethinkingimplementedismuchmoreprimitive

andmuchmoreelaborate.

Ascent,explorationand,moregenerally,everypioneeringactconsistsinadheringto

thekeypointsthatnaturepresents.Climbingaslopeinordertogotowardthesummitisto

makeoneswaytowardtheprivilegedplacethatcommandstheentiremountainousmassif,

notinordertodominateortotakepossessionofit,buttoenterintoafriendlyrelationship

withit. Manandnaturearenotstrictlyspeakingenemiesbeforesuchaccessiontothekey

point,butstrangerstooneother. Untilithasbeenclimbed,thesummitisonlyasummit,a

placehigherthantheothers.Theascentgivesitthecharacterofaplacethatismorefully

developed,elaborate,andnonabstract,aplacewherethisexchangebetweentheworldand

manoccurs.Thesummitistheplacefromwhichthewholemassifisseeninanabsoluteway,

whileviewsfromallotherplacesarerelativeandincomplete,makingonewishforthe

summitpointofview.Anexpeditionoranavigationthatmakesitpossibletoreacha

continentbyanestablishedroutedoesnotconqueranything;nevertheless,inmagical

thinkingtheyarevalidinthattheymakepossiblecontactwiththecontinentinaprivileged

placethatisakeypoint. Themagicaluniverseismadeupofthenetworkofplacesproviding

accesstoeverydomainofreality:itconsistsofthresholds,summits,boundaries,andcrossing

pointsthatareconnectedtooneanotherbytheirsingularityandtheirexceptionalnature.


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Thisnetworkofboundariesisnotonlyspatialbutalsotemporal;therearenotable

datesandprivilegedmomentstobeginoneactionoranother.Besides,theverynotionof

beginningismagical,evenifeveryparticularvalueisdeniedonthedateofthebeginning;the

beginningofanactionthatistolastandthefirstactofwhatshouldbealongseriesought

nottohaveinthemselvesaparticularmajestyandpowerofdirection,iftheywerethought

tobecontrollingtheentiredurationoftheactionandthewholesequenceofefforts,

propitiousorotherwise;datesareprivilegedpointsoftimethatmakepossibleanexchange

betweenhumanintentionandthespontaneousunfoldingofevents. Thesearethetemporal

structuresbywhichmanisinsertedinnaturalbecoming,justastheinfluenceofnaturaltime

affectseachhumanlife,becomingdestiny.

Incivilizedlifetoday,agreatmanyinstitutionsconcernmagicalthinking,butare

hiddenbyutilitarianconceptsthatindirectlyjustifythem;inparticular,timeoff,festivals,and

vacationscompensatewiththeirmagicalchargeforthelossofmagicalpowerimposedby

civilizedurbanlife. Thus,vacationtrips,thatarethoughttoproviderestanddiversion,arein

factaquestforkeypointsoldornew;thesepointscanbethebigcityforcountrypeople,or

thecountrysideforcitydwellers,butmoregenerallytheyarenotanyparticularsiteinthe

cityorthecountryside;it[thekeypoint]istheshoreorthehighmountainoreventhe

bordercrossedonthewaytoaforeignland.Publicholidaysarerelatedtoprivileged

momentsoftime;occasionally,aconjunctionofsingularmomentsandsingularsitesis

possible.


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110/126

So,ordinarytimeandordinaryspaceserveasgroundforthesefigures;dissociated

fromtheground,figureswouldlosetheirmeaning;timeoffandcelebrationsarenota

releasefromordinarylifebysuspendingordinarylife,butasearchforprivilegedplacesand

datesinrelationtothecontinuousground.

Thisfiguralstructureisinherentintheworld,ratherthandetached;itisthe

reticulationoftheuniverseinprivilegedkeypointsatwhichexchangeshappenbetweenthe

livingbeinganditsmilieu. Now,itispreciselythisreticularstructurethatgoesoutofphase

whenthereisashiftfromtheoriginalmagicalunitytotechnicsandtoreligion:figureand

groundseparatebybecomingdetachedfromtheuniversetowhichtheyadhered. Thekey

pointsbecomeobjective,retainingonlytheirfunctionalmediatorycharacteristics,becoming

instrumental,mobile,capableofefficiencyinanyplaceandatanytime;asfigure,thekey

points,detachedfromthegroundforwhichtheywerethekey,becometechnicalobjects,

transportableand abstractedfromthemilieu.Atthesametime,thekeypointslosetheir

mutualreticulationandtheirpowerofdistantinfluenceontherealitythatsurroundedthem;

astechnicalobjectstheyhaveonlyoneactionuponcontact,sitebysite,instantbyinstant.

Thisruptureofthenetworkofkeypointsfreesthecharacteristicsoftheground,andthesein

turnbecomedetachedfromtheirownground,narrowlyqualitativeandconcrete,inorderto

hoveroverthewholeuniverse,throughoutspaceandthroughouttime,intheformof

detachedpowersandforcesabovetheworld.Whilethekeypointsbecomeobjectiveinthe

formofconcretizedtoolsandinstruments,thegroundpowersbecomesubjectiveby

becomingpersonifiedintheformofthedivineandthesacred(Gods,heroes,priests).


(rough draft)


111/126

Theprimitivereticulationofthemagicalworldisthusthesourceofanobjectification

andasubjectificationthatareinconflict;atthemomentoftheruptureoftheinitial

structuring,thefactthatthefigurebecomesdetachedfromthegroundisexpressedby

anotherdetachment:figureandgroundthemselvesarefreedfromtheirconcreteadherence

totheuniverseandtakecontrastingpathways;thefigurebecomesfragmented,whereasthe

groundqualitiesandforcesbecomeuniversalized:thisbreakupandthisuniversalizingare

formsofbecoming,thefigurebecominganabstractfigure,andgroundsbecomingasingle

abstractground.Thisphaseshiftofthemediationintofiguralcharacteristicsandground

characteristicstranslatesintotheemergenceofadistancebetweenmanandtheworld.The

meditationitself,insteadofbeingasimplestructuringoftheuniverse,takesonacertain

density;itbecomesobjectifiedintechnicsandbecomessubjectifiedinreligion,makingthe

firstobjectappearinthetechnicalobjectandthefirstsubjectappearindivinity,when

previouslytherehadbeenasingleunityofthelivinganditsmilieu:objectivityand

subjectivityemerge

between

the

living

and

its

milieu,

between

man

and

the

world,

at

a

momentwhentheworlddoesnotyethaveacompletestatusasobjectnormanacomplete

statusassubject.Moreover,itcanbeaffirmedthatobjectivityisnevercompletely

coextensivewiththeworld,andthatsubjectivityisnevercompletelycoextensivewithman.

Itisonlywhentheworldisenvisagedfromatechnicistperspectiveandmanisenvisaged

from

a

religious

perspective

that

one

can

be

called

a

complete

object

and

the

other

a

completesubject.Pureobjectivityandpuresubjectivityaremodesofthemediationbetween

manandtheworld,intheirfirstform.


(rough draft)


112/126

Religionandtechnicsaretheorganizationoftwosymmetricalandcontrasting

mediations;buttheyformacouple,sinceeachisbutonephaseoftheprimitive

mediation.Inthissense,theydonothaveadefinitiveautonomy. Furthermore,evenwhen

takeninthesystemthattheyform,theycannotbeconsideredasenclosingallthereal,since

theyarebetweenmanandtheworld,butdonotcontaintheentirerealityofmanandofthe

world,andcannotapplytoitinacompleteway.Becauseofthegapbetweenthesetwo

opposingaspectsofmediation,scienceandethicsdeepentherelationbetweenmanandthe

world.Withregardtoscienceandtoethics,thetwoprimitivemediationsplayanormative

role:scienceandethicsarebornintheintervaldefinedbythegapbetweentechnicsand

religion,byfollowingthemediandirection;theprecedencethatreligionandtechnicshaveto

scienceandethicsisofthesameorderastheprecedencethatlineslimitingananglehaveto

thebisectorofthatangle:thesidesoftheanglemaybeindicatedbyshortsegments,

whereasthebisectorcanbeextendedindefinitely.Likewise,fromthegapthatexists

betweenvery

primitive

technics

and

avery

primitive

religion,

avery

elaborate

science

and

veryelaborateethicscanbeprogressivelyconstructedwithoutbeinglimitedby,butonly

directedby,thebasicconditionsoftechnicsandreligion.

Theoriginofthedivisionthatcreatedtechnicalthinkingandreligiousthinkingcanbe

attributedtoaprimitivestructureofreticulationthatistrulyfunctional.Thisdivision

separatedfigurefromground,figureprovidingthecontentoftechnics,andgroundproviding

thatofreligion.Whereasinthemagicalreticulationoftheworld,figureandgroundare

reciprocalrealities,technicsandreligionemergewhenfigureandgroundbecomedetached

fromoneanother,inthiswaybecomingmobile,divisible,displaceable,anddirectlyopento


(rough draft)


113/126

manipulationbecausedisconnectedfromtheworld.Technicalthinkingretainsonlythe

schematismofstructures,ofwhatmakesuptheefficiencyofactiononsingularsites;these

singularsites,detachedfromtheworldofwhichtheywerethefigure,detachedalsofrom

oneanother,losingtheirimmobilizingreticularconcatenation,becomedivisibleand

receptiveaswellasreproducibleandconstructible. Theelevatedplacebecomesan

observationpost,awatchtowerconstructedintheplain,oratowerplacedattheentranceto

agorge.Atthebeginning,technicsareoftencontenttodevelopaprivilegedplace,aswhen

constructingatoweratthesummitofahill,orplacingalighthouseonapromontoryatthe

mostvisiblepoint.Buttechnicscanalsosuccessfullycreatethefunctionalityofprivileged

sites. Ofnaturalrealitiestechnicsretainonlythefiguralpower,notthesiteandnatural

localizationonadeterminedgroundgivenpriortoanyhumanintervention.Dividingthe

schematismsmoreandmore,itmakessomethingintoatooloraninstrument,thatistosay,

afragmentdetachedfromtheworldcapableofworkingefficientlyinanylocationandunder

anyconditions,

site

by

site,

according

to

the

intention

that

directs

it

and

at

the

moment

whenmansowishes.Theaccessibilityofthetechnicalthingconsistsinitsbeingfreedfrom

servitudetothegroundoftheworld. Technicsareanalytic,operatingprogressivelyandby

contact,leavingasideconnectionbyinfluence.Inmagicthesingularplacepermitsaction

overawholedomain,justastalkingtothekingisenoughtowinoverawholepeople.In

technics,

on

the

other

hand,

all

of

reality

must

be

examined,

touched

and

treated

by

the

technicalobject,detachedfromtheworldandavailableforuseinanysiteatanymoment.

Thetechnicalobjectisdistinguishablefromthenaturalbeinginthesensethatitisnotpartof

theworld. Itintervenesasmediatorbetweenmanandtheworld;itis,therefore,thefirst


(rough draft)


114/126

detachedobject,fortheworldisaunity,amilieuratherthananensembleofobjects;there

areinfactthreetypesofreality:theworld,thesubject,andtheobject,whichisan

intermediarybetweentheworldandthesubject,theprimaryformofwhichisthetechnical

object.

III.DIVERGENCEOFTECHNICALTHINKINGANDOFRELIGIOUSTHINKING

Technicalthinking,whichresultsfromtheruptureoftheprimitivereticularstructure

ofthemagicalworld,andwhichretainsthosefiguralelementsthatcanbedepositedin

objects,tools,orinstruments,gainsfromthisdetachmentanaccessibilitythatmakes

possibleitsapplicationtoeveryelementoftheworld. However,thisrupturealsoproducesa

deficit:thetoolorthetechnicalinstrumenthasretainedonlyitsfiguralcharacteristics,and

figuralaspectsthataredetachedfromthegroundwithwhichtheyhadoncebeendirectly

connectedsincetheycamefromaprimarystructuringthatcausedfigureandgroundto

springupasasingleandcontinuousreality.Inthemagicaluniverse,thefigurewasthefigure

ofagroundandthegroundthegroundofafigure;thereal,theunityofthereal,wasatonce

figureandground;thequestionofapossiblelackofeffectivenessofthefigureontheground

oroftheinfluenceofthegroundonthefigurecouldnothavearisen,sincefigureandground

constitutedasingleunityofbeing.Ontheotherhand,inthecaseoftechnics,afterthe

rupture,whatthetechnicalobjectretainedoffiguralcharacteristicsandmadethem

permanentfindsanygroundwhateveranonymousandforeign.Thetechnicalobjecthas

becomeabearerofform,aremnantoffiguralcharacteristics,andittriestoapplythatform

toagroundthatisnowdetachedfromthefigure,becauseithaslostitsintimateinherent


(rough draft)


115/126

relationship and because it can be informed by any form encountered, but in a violent,

moreor less imperfectmanner;figureandgroundhavebecomestrangersandabstract in

relationtooneother.

Thehylemorphicschemadoesnotsolelydescribethegenesisoflivingbeings;itmight

notevendescribeitessentially.Perhapsalsoitdoesnotderivefromawellthoughtoutand

conceptualizedexperienceoftechnics:beforetheknowledgeofthelivingbeingandbefore

reflectionontechnics,thisimplicitadequacyoffigureandgroundisbrokenbytechnics. If

thehylemorphicschemaseemsdisengagedfromtechnicalexperience,thisisbecauseitis

moreanormandanidealthananexperienceofthereal.Technicalexperience,makinguse

ofvestigesoffiguralelementsandvestigesofgroundcharacteristics,revivestheprimary

intuitionofamutualadherenceofmatterandform,ofacouplingprecedinganydivision.In

thissense,thehylemorphicschemaiscorrect,notbecauseofthelogicaluseofitinancient

philosophy,butasanintuitionofthestructureoftheuniverseformanbeforethebirthof

technics.Thisrelationcannotbeorganizedasahierarchy:itcannothaveinitincreasingly

successiveandincreasinglyabstractstagesofmatterandofform,becausetherealmodelof

therelationbetweenmatterandformistheprimarystructuringoftheuniverseasfigureand

ground;now,thisstructuringistrueonlyifitisnotabstract,ifitisatonestageonly;the

groundisreallygroundandthefigurereallyfigure,anditcannotbecomegroundforahigher

figure.ThemannerinwhichAristotledescribestherelationsbetweenformandmatter,in

particularthesuppositionthatmatteraspirestoform(matteraspirestoformasthefemale

tothemale)isalreadyfarfromprimitivemagicalthinking,forthataspirationcanonlyexistif

therehadbeenanearlierdetachment;so,itisasinglebeingthatisatoncematterandform.


(rough draft)


116/126


117/126

andprecededandfollowedbytheimmensityoftime. Whethersubjectorobject,theobject,

thebeing,theindividualisalwaysunderstoodtobelessthanunity,tobedominatedbya

presagedtotalitythatinfinitelytranscendsit. Thesourceofthetranscendenceliesinthe

functionoftotalitythatdominatestheparticularbeing;inthereligiousviewofthingsthis

particularbeingisunderstoodin relationtoatotalityinwhichitparticipates,becauseof

whichitexists,butwhichitcannevercompletelyexpress. Religionuniversalizesthefunction

oftotality,whichisdissociatedandconsequentlyfreedfromanyfiguralattachmentthat

limitsit;thegroundsconnectedtotheworldinmagicalthinkingandconsequentlylimitedby

theverystructuringofthemagicaluniverse,becomeinreligiousthinkingalimitless

background,spatialaswellastemporal.Theyretaintheirpositivegroundqualities(forces,

powers,influences,quality),butridthemselvesoftheirlimitsandtheadherencethat

attachedthemtoahicetnunc.Theybecomeabsoluteground,totalityofground.

Advancementintheuniversebeginsfromliberatedand,tosomeextent,abstractmagical

grounds.

Religiousthinking,afterthedisjunctionofgroundandfigure,retainstheotherpartof

themagicalworld:theground,withitsqualities,itstensions,itsforces;butthisground,too,

likethefiguralschemasoftechnics,becomessomethingdetachedfromtheworld,

abstractedfromtheprimitivemilieu.Andjustasthefiguralschemasoftechnics,freedfrom

theiradherencetotheworld,areaffixedtotoolorinstrumentinthecourseofbecoming

objectified,thequalitiesofgroundthattechnicitymakesavailableinthemobilizationof

figuresareaffixedtosubjects.Technicalobjectificationleadingtotheemergenceofthe

technicalobject,themediatorbetweenmanandtheworld,hasacounterpartinreligious


(rough draft)


118/126

subjectification. Justastechnicalmediationisinstitutedbymeansofsomethingthat

becomesatechnicalobject,soreligiousmediationemergesasaresultoftheaffixingof

groundcharacteristicsonsubjects,realorimaginary,divinitiesorpriests. Religious

subjectificationnormallyleadstomediationbythepriest,whiletechnicalmediationleadsto

mediationbythetechnicalobject.Technicityretainsthefiguralcharacteristicsofthe

primitivecomplexofmanandtheworld,whilereligiosityretainsthegroundcharacteristics.

Technicityandreligiosityareneitherdegradedformsofmagicnorrelicsofmagic;

theyissuefromthedivisionoftheprimitivemagicalcomplex,thereticulationoftheoriginal

humanmilieuintofigureandground. Itisthroughtheircouplingthattechnicsandreligion

aretheheirsofmagic,notthrougheachonitsown. Religionisnotmoremagicalthan

technics;itisthesubjectivephaseoftheresultofdivision,whereastechnicsarethe

objectivephaseoftheverysamedivision.Technicsandreligionarecontemporariesofeach

other,and,wheneachistakenseparately,theyaremoreimpoverishedthanthemagicfrom

whichtheyemerge.

Religion,therefore,hasbynaturethevocationtorepresenttheexigencyofthe

totality;whenitdividesintoatheoreticalmodeandapracticalmode,throughtheologyit

becomestheexigencyofasystematicrepresentationoftherealasanabsoluteunity;

through

morality,

it

becomes

for

ethics

the

exigency

of

absolute

norms

of

action

that

are

justifiedinthenameofthetotalityandsuperiortoallhypothetical,thatistosayparticular,

imperatives;toscienceastoethics,religionbringsaprincipleofreferencetothetotality,

whichistheaspirationtotheunityoftheoreticalknowledgeandtotheabsolutecharacterof


(rough draft)


119/126

themoralimperative.Religiousinspirationconstitutesapermanentreminderofthe

relativityofoneparticularbeingwithrespecttoanunconditionaltotalityexceedingevery

objectandeverysubjectofknowledgeandofaction.

Conversely,technicshaveacontentthatisalwayssubordinatetothestatusofthe

unity,becausetheschemasofefficiencyandthestructuresresultingfromthefragmentation

oftheprimitivenetworkofkeypointscannotbeappliedtothetotalityoftheworld. By

nature,technicalobjectsaremultipleanddivided;technicalthinking,enclosedinthis

plurality,canprogress,butonlybymultiplyingtechnicalobjects,withoutbeingableto

recapturetheprimitiveunity.Evenwhenmultiplyingtechnicalobjectsendlessly,itis

impossibletofindanabsoluteadequacytotheworld,sinceeachoftheobjectsattacksthe

worldinoneplaceonlyandinonemomentonly;itislocalized,particularized;adding

technicalobjectsonetoanothercanneitherremaketheworldnorregaincontactwiththe

worldinitsunity,whichwastheaimofmagicalthinking.

Inconnectionwithaspecificobjectorwithaspecifictask,technicalthinkingisalways

inferiortounity:itcanpresentseveralobjectsandseveralmeans,andselectthebest;but

nonetheless,italwaysremainsinadequatetothewholenessoftheunityoftheobjectorof

thetask. Eachschema,eachobject,eachtechnicaloperation,iscontrolledandguidedbythe

whole

from

which

it

derives

its

ends

and

its

orientation,

and

which

provides

it

with

a

never

attainedprincipleofunitythatisexpressedbycombiningandmultiplyingitsschemas.

Technicalthinkinghasbynaturethevocationtorepresentthepointofviewofthe

element;itadherestotheelementaryfunction.Oncetechnicityisadmittedintoadomainit


(rough draft)


120/126

breaksitupandstartsachainofsuccessiveandelementarymediationsgovernedbythe

unityofthedomainandsubordinatedtoit. Technicalthinkingconceivestheoperationofan

ensembleasachainofelementaryprocessesworkingpointbypointandstepbystep;it

localizesandmultipliestheschemasofmediation,alwaysremaininglesserthantheunity.

Theelementintechnicalthinkingismorestable,betterunderstood,andinacertainway

moreperfectthantheensemble;itisreallyanobject,whereastheensemblealwaysremains

toacertainextentinherentintheworld. Religiousthinkingfindstheoppositeequilibrium:in

it,thetotalityismorestable,morepowerful,andmoreviablethantheelement.

Inthetheoreticaldomainasintheethicaldomain,technicsareconcernedwiththe

element.Inthesciencesthecontributionoftechnicsconsistedinmakingpossiblea

representationofphenomenaonebyonebybreakingthemdownintosimpleelementary

processessimilartotheoperationsoftechnicalobjects;suchistheroleofthemechanistic

hypothesisthatenabledDescartestorepresenttherainbowasanoverallresultofthepoint

bypointtrajectorytakenbyeachluminouscorpuscleineachdropofraininacloud;andit

wasalsoaccordingtothesamemethodthatDescartesdescribesthefunctioningoftheheart

bybreakingdownacompletecycleintosimplesuccessiveoperationsandshowingthatthe

functioningofthewholeistheresultoftheplayofelementsnecessitatedbytheirparticular

disposition(forexample,thatofeachvalve). Descartesdoesnotaskhimselfwhytheheartis

madeinthisway,withvalvesandcavities,buthowitworksgivenhowitismade.The

applicationofschemasdrawnfromtechnicsdoesnotaccountfortheexistenceofthe

totality,takenasaunity,butdoesaccountforthepointbypointandinstantbyinstant

functioningofthattotality.


(rough draft)


121/126

Intheethicaldomain,technicalthinkingnotonlyintroducesmeansofactionthatare

fragmentaryandtiedtothecapacitiesofeachobjectthatisbecomingautensil,butalsoa

certainreduplication

of

the

action

by

technicity;

aspecific

human

action,

considered

with

respecttoitsresults,couldhavebeenaccomplishedbyaspecifictechnicalfunctioninggoing

throughvariousstages;elementsandmomentsofactionhavetheirtechnicalanalogue;an

effortofattention,ofmemory,couldhavebeenreplacedbyatechnicaloperation;technicity

providesapartialequivalencetotheresultsofaction;itaccentuatesawarenessoftheaction

bythebeingwhobringsittocompletionintheformofresults;itbroadcastsandobjectifies

theresultsoftheactionthroughcomparisonwiththoseofthetechnicaloperation,breaking

downtheactionintopartialresults,intoelementarycompletions.Justasinthesciences

technicityintroducesthesearchforthehowbyabreakingdownofensemblephenomena

intoelementaryoperations,so,inethicstechnicityintroducesthesearchforabreakingdown

oftheoverallactionintotheelementsofaction;becausethetotalactionisenvisagedasthat

whichproducesaresult,thebreakdownoftheactiongeneratedbytechnicsconsidersthe

elementsoftheactionasgesturesthatachievepartialresults.Technicityassumesthatan

actionislimitedtoitsresults;itisnotconcernedwiththesubjectoftheactiontakeninits

realtotality,norevenwithanactioninitstotality,totheextentthatthetotalityoftheaction

isfoundedontheunityofthesubject.Inethicsconcernwithresultsistheanalogueofthe

searchforthehowinthesciences;resultandprocessremainsubordinatetotheunityofthe

actionortotheensembleofthereal.


(rough draft)


122/126

Thepostulationofanabsoluteandunconditionaljustificationwhichreligiondirects

towardethicstranslatesintoasearchfortheintentionasopposedtoasearchfortheresult

thatisinspiredbytechnics.Inthesciences,religiousthinkingintroducesanappealfor

absolutetheoreticalunitythatrequiresasearchforthesenseofbecomingandtheexistence

ofgivenphenomena(hencerespondingtothewhy?),whereastechnicalthinkingoffersan

examinationofthehow?foreachofthephenomena.

Becauseitscontentisinferiortounity,technicalthinkingistheparadigmforall

inductivethinking,bothinthetheoreticalorderandinthepractical.Itcontainsthisinductive

processinitself,priortoanyseparationintopracticalandtheoreticalmodes.Induction,in

fact,isnotmerelyalogicalprocessinthestrictsenseoftheterm;anyprocesscanbe

consideredtobeaprocessoftheinductivetypeifitscontentisinferiorthestatusofunity,if

itstrivestoattainunityor,atleast,ifittendstowardunityfromapluralityofelements,each

ofwhichisinferiortounity. Whatinductiontakesholdof,whatitstartsfrom,isanelement

thatinitselfisnotsufficientandcomplete,anddoesnotconstituteaunity;so,itexceeds

eachparticularelementbycombiningitwithotherelementsthatarethemselvesparticular,

inordertofindananalogueofunity:ininductionthereisasearchforthegroundofreality

fromfiguralelementsthatarefragments;totrytofindalawbeneathphenomena,asinthe

inductionofBaconandStuartMill,ortotrytofindonlywhatiscommontoallindividualsof

agivenspecies,asinAristotlesinduction,istopostulatethatbeyondthepluralityof

phenomenaandofindividualsthereexistsastableandcommongroundforreality,thatis

theunityofthereal.


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Itisnodifferentinethicsthatwoulddirectlyderivefromtechnics;towantthewhole

durationoflifetobeaseriesofmoments,toextractfromeachsituationwhatispleasantin

it, andtowanttoconstructthehappinessoflifebyaccumulatingitsagreeableelements,as

didancientEudaimonismorUtilitarianism,istoproceedinaninductivemanner,bytryingto

replacetheunityofthedurationoflifeandtheunityofhumanaspirationwithapluralityof

instantsandwiththehomogeneityofallsuccessivedesires.Theelaborationtowhich

Epicureanismsubmitsdesireshasonegoalonly,whichistoincorporatethemintothe

continuityofanexistencethatproceedsinanaccumulativemanner:forthis,eachofthe

desiresmustbedominatedandsurroundedbythesubject,madelesserthanunity,sothatit

canbetreatedandmanipulatedasagenuineelement. Thisiswhythepassionsare

eliminated,sincetheycannotbetreatedaselements;theyarelargerthantheunityofthe

subject;theydominateit,theycomefromfartherawaythanitandtendtogofartheron

thanit,obligingittoexceeditslimits.Lucretiustriestodestroythepassionsfromwithin,by

showingthat

they

are

based

on

errors;

in

fact,

he

fails

to

account

for

the

element

of

tendencyinpassion, thatistosay,fortheforcethatisinsertedintothesubjectandyetis

moreextensivethanit,aforceinrelationtowhichitseemstobeaverylimitedbeing;

tendencycannotbeconsideredtobecontainedwithinthesubjectasaunity. Wisdom,

havingrestoredtheforcesattheoriginofactiontoastatusofinferioritywithrespecttothe

unity

of

the

moral

subject,

can

organize

them

as

elements

and

reconstruct

a

moral

subject

withinthenaturalsubject;however,thismoralsubjectnevercompletelyattainsthelevelof

unity;betweenthereconstructedmoralsubjectandthenaturalsubjectthereremainsavoid

impossibletofill;theinductiveapproachremainsinplurality;itconstructsanetworkof


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elements,butthisnetworkcannotamounttoarealunity. Allethicaltechnicsleavethe

moralsubjectunsatisfiedbecausetheyignoreitsunity;thesubjectcannotbecontentwitha

lifethatwouldbeaseries,evenanuninterruptedseries,ofhappymoments;alifethatis

perfectlysuccessfulelementbyelementisstillnotamorallife;itlackswhatmakesitthelife

ofasubject:unity.

Butconversely,religiousthinking,thefoundationofobligation,createsinethical

thoughtasearchforunconditionaljustificationwhichmakeseveryactandeverysubject

appeartobeinferiortorealunity;whenrelatedtoatotalitythatexpandsendlessly,the

moralactandsubjectderivetheirsignificancesolelyfromtheirrelationwiththistotality;the

communicationbetweenthetotalityandthesubjectisprecarious,becauseateverymoment

thesubjectisdrawnbacktothedimensionofitsownunity,whichisnotthatofthetotality;

theethicalsubjectisdecenteredbyreligiousexigency.


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On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objectsby

Gilbert Simondon

THIRD PART

THE ESSENCE OF TECHNICITY

CHAPTER II

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TECHNICAL THOUGHTAND OTHER KINDS OF THOUGHT

I.TECHNICAL THOUGHT AND AESTHETIC THOUGHT

According toa certaingenetic hypothesis, one should not expect different modesof thinking to be parallel to each another; hence, one cannot compare religious thinkingand magical thinking because they are not on the same plane; but on the other hand it ispossible to compare technical thinking and religious thinking because they arecontemporaneous with one another; to compare them it is not enough to define theirparticular characteristics, as if they were species of a genus; we need to recapture thegenetic accomplishment of their formation, because they exist as a couple, as a result ofthe bifurcation of a [once] complete primitive thought, magical thinking. As for aestheticthinking, it is never a limited domain or a given species, but just a trend; it is what

maintains the function of the whole. In this sense, it can be compared to magical thinking,as long as it is clear that, unlike magical thinking, it has no possibility of being split intotechnics and religion; far from going in the direction of bifurcation, aesthetic thinkingsustains the implicit memory of the unity; from one of the phases of the bifurcation it callson the other complementary phase; it looks for the totality of thought and aims atreconstructing unity by an analogical relation at the point where the onset of phasescould create the mutual isolation of thought in relation to itself.

Without doubt, such a way of contemplating aesthetic effort would miss the pointif we wanted to characterize in kind works of art as they exist at the institutional level in agiven civilization, and all the more so if we wanted to define the essence of aestheticism.But if they are to be possible, works of art have to be made possible by a fundamental

tendency in human nature and by a capacity for having an aesthetic impression in certainreal and vital circumstances. The work of art as part of a civilization uses the aestheticimpression and, sometimes artificially and in an illusory way, satisfies the humantendency in exercising a particular kind of thinking to find the complement in relation tothe whole. It would be inadequate to say that the work of art is evidence of a nostalgiafor magical thinking; in fact, the work of art gives the equivalent of magical thinking,because from a given situation, and according to a structural and qualitative analogical


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relations, it retrieves a universalizing continuity in relation to other possible situations andto other possible realities. The work of art.........


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Simon Don Mode of Existence of Technical Objects in Progress